


Of Dream Gowns & Broken Promises

by seoulsunset



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Bittersweet Ending, Closure, Exes, F/F, F/M, Fashion Designer, Forgiveness, Happy Ending, Mentioned Son Chaeyoung, Minor Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Minor Kang Daniel/Park Jisoo | Jihyo, One Shot, Valentine's Day, being friends again, bride, jihyo is getting married, nayeon is designing her gown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 09:35:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22713928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seoulsunset/pseuds/seoulsunset
Summary: once upon a time, fashion designer Im Nayeon promised her fiance, Park Jihyo, that she would someday design both their wedding gowns for their wedding day.one day, jihyo comes to nayeon's bridal shop, ready to finally design her dream gown.except jihyo's about to marry somebody else.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Park Jisoo | Jihyo
Kudos: 32





	Of Dream Gowns & Broken Promises

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry for bringing angst this valentine's day. I love you all.

“ms. nayeon,” chaeyoung, nayeon’s assistant for three years now, knocked on her door, “your last appointment for the day is here.”

“perfect timing,” nayeon smiled at her young apprentice, “send her in, I just finished designing for my last client.”

“alrighty then!” chaeyoung smiled as nayeon sat up and brought her sketch pad to the couch where she would sit beside her new client.

nayeon momentarily glanced at her previous sketch, noticing a few minor details that needed to be corrected. but before she could edit her work, the door to her office slid open.

“hi.” a timid voice greeted and nayeon sat up to greet her client.

“hi, it’s nice to meet you, I’m—“ but nayeon suddenly stopped talking when she realized who was standing in front of her.

“is it safe to say that we could skip the introductions?” the girl smiled shyly, unable to read how the designer would react.

but nayeon, nayeon was frozen.

she was beautiful, and she still is so, so utterly gorgeous that it knocked the breath out of nayeon’s lungs.

her eyes were still these big, beautiful, deer-like orbs, with two tiny moles underneath her right one. her smile was still glowing, still gummy, still bright. her lips were still slightly chapped, but nayeon knew how sweet they always tasted — like strawberries.

after all, she used to kiss those lips every morning and every night.

“jihyo,” nayeon breathed out, “you—you’re here.”

“yes unnie,” jihyo smiled stepping closer to the designer, “and I need your help.”

and that’s when realization dawned on nayeon.

jihyo was going to get married.

“oh my!” nayeon exclaimed, unable to stop her eyes from welling up, “you’re going to—“

“yes nayeon unnie, I am.” jihyo laughed when nayeon was unable to complete her sentence. “I was wondering if, you know, your offer was still up for me.”

of course. how could nayeon ever forget?

she remembered the time, when jihyo and her was still living in those crappy apartments. living off instant noodles and on a double bed barely able to fit two grown women.

“someday,” nayeon promised as she drew another sketch of a wedding gown. it was one of their class projects, she had to design twelve wedding gowns to complete the course, “someday, I’ll design our wedding gowns, jihyo.”

and jihyo laughed, “of course unnie, who would I ever trust to make my dream gown? I would need the best designer in the whole world.”

nayeon giggled lovingly, adoring of how this woman trusted her when she ought to make a name for herself, “only me, baby hyo?”

jihyo dropped a kiss to her favorite pair of lips in the entire world, “only you unnie, I promise that it’s only going to be you to design my gown.”

“and I promise I’ll make you the best gown in the world,” nayeon giggled as she herself dropped a kiss to jihyo’s lips, “I’ll make it with every thread and fibre of my love for you, park jihyo.”

the two girls giggled loudly, unable to stop imagining the bits and details of their gowns.

and if the two girls made out for a solid hour whispering promises about their wedding day before nayeon completed another sketch, then they both have no regrets.

and looking back at that time, ten years ago, when they were still both in college, nayeon couldn’t help but smile.

“sit down, hyo,” nayeon said as jihyo took a seat, “I’m just going to get something.”

nayeon ran to her cabinet, pulling something from the bottom drawer. soon, nayeon came back to the couch holding a very special sketch pad.

“would you laugh at me, jihyo, if I told you that I already finished designing your gown even before you came here?” nayeon looked at her nervously, unable to bear the thought that someone important to her would find her weird.

but instead, jihyo’s eyes teared up, yet she forced herself to give the older girl a smile, “I wouldn’t expect any less unnie. now show me your design.”

it was laughable, how the both of them was flipping through the pages of this sketch book, barely able to hold their tears. their lips both quivered, and nayeon’s hand was shaking as she flipped through the pages.

“this one,” nayeon said as she opened the page to one of her most favorite designs, “I designed this for you.”

“yeah?” jihyo’s voice shook, “tell me about it.”

“I chose a mermaid design for you hyo, because a ballgown would swallow your tiny self, and besides, you got an amazing figure.” nayeon explained as a tear finally escaped her eyes.

“you’re mean, I am not tiny!” jihyo pouted.

“sure you’re not, baby.” nayeon laughed teasingly, and jihyo giggled as well.

“what’s the fabric, unnie?” jihyo asked more.

“satin, the softest kind, because I know how you hate other fabrics especially if they’re itchy. I also didn’t place a lot of beadwork, I want your face to shine the most after all.” nayeon explained as she watched the first tear slip from jihyo’s eyes.

“what’s the neckline?” jihyo asked.

“you’ll have an illusion neckline, I can’t let you go strapless. we wouldn’t want your girls in danger!” at that, the both of them laughed out loud.

the two girls took a deep breath, remaining silent for a few minutes. only the sound of their sniffing could be heard.

but that’s okay, they were out of words to say for the moment. they just let theirselves calm down before speaking again.

nayeon was first to break the silence.

“tell me about them.”

“about who?” jihyo asked, a little confused.

“about this person you’re gonna marry.” nayeon gazed intently at her favorite bambi eyes in the world.

“oh!” jihyo gasped softly before such a fond smile grew on her lips, “his name is daniel.”

“daniel.” nayeon repeated.

“yes, daniel. I met him a year after we broke up, and I started dating him six months later. we’re about six years together now, and he asked me to marry him last year.” jihyo smiled as she looked away with a fond look in her eyes, “it was the happiest day of my life.”

nayeon took a deep breath, “is he good to you?”

“the best unnie,” jihyo replied in a heartbeat, “he takes such good care of me. he treats me like an equal. he’s funny and sweet, maybe a little dorky, but I think, no, I know that he’s it for me.”

a part of nayeon’s heart cracked at that, did jihyo ever think that nayeon was ‘it’ for her?

“so he treats you well?” nayeon wanted to be sure that whoever jihyo ended up with would never hurt her.

at least not in the way she did.

“he treats me so good.” jihyo looked at her intently with pure honesty in her eyes. “I love him so much, unnie, but I think he loves me a million times more. he just has so much love to give.”

“that’s good, baby.” nayeon said with her own little smile, “if anyone in this world deserves the best, it’s got to be you, jihyo.”

and jihyo cupped the right side of nayeon’s face on her tiny hand, “as do you, unnie. you deserve the best too.”

nayeon merely allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of jihyo’s palm on her cheek before jihyo began to ask another question.

“now would you tell me about her?” jihyo asked without losing her smile.

and nayeon’s eyebrows were drawn into confusion, “about who?”

and jihyo’s gaze lifted to the picture frame on her desk, a photo of nayeon with her arms wrapped around a taller girl in Paris, “about the girl who’s making my nayeon smile everyday.”

and nayeon’s eyes flitted to the photo, her own smile growing fond before taking a deep breath, “her name’s jeongyeon and I met her four years ago years ago.”

“tell me more.” jihyo encouraged.

“she,” nayeon laughed breathlessly, “she was one of the models for Paris fashion week. she was one of the few korean models and she was so beautiful and so I had to at least befriend her.”

“she is beautiful.” jihyo agreed.

“the most beautiful girl in the world indeed.” nayeon smiled as she thought of jeongyeon’s smiling face. “and her heart was as beautiful as her. did you know that she was the first one to ask me out? she said it’s because she knew that I was a chicken and I would never ever get to ask her out on a date.”

jihyo laughed loudly, “that sounds about you.”

“I’m gonna ask her to marry me soon too you know,” nayeon spoke with clear intent, “maybe next year. all I know is that she’s definitely the one for me.”

and if jihyo’s heart broke a little too, thinking if she was ever ‘the one’ for nayeon as well, then that was her secret to keep.

“I’m so happy for you unnie.” jihyo smiled honeslty, “finding love in Paris? how romantic!”

“I’m so lucky to find her jihyo.” nayeon said with nothing but love in her eyes. “and I’m so glad you also found someone like daniel.”

“I guess we both got our happy endings huh?” jihyo smiled teasingly.

nayeon snorted and her eyes rolled fondly, “this isn’t a fairy tale, park jihyo.”

“hey, you’re making me a gown for a princess, aren’t you?”

“so does that make me your fairy godmother?”

jihyo laughed, “you look more like an ugly stepsister, but sure, you could be anything you want nayeon unnie.”

“yah!” nayeon giggled as she scolded the younger girl, “you’re still so mean to me.”

they were both giggling and for an hour they were just talking, catching up on each other’s lives on what they missed and all that.

they were both comfortable, like old friends, but also slightly on edge, like old lovers. they felt as if they were just waiting for something to break.

suddenly, jihyo paused as if she remembered something, and she took a deep breath before it all shattered.

“unnie,” jihyo asked softly, “can it be done in six months?”

the barrel had finally been tipped, “oh my god, you’re getting married in six months!”

and jihyo knew to open her arms and to embrace her, once upon a time, most beloved person in the world.

nayeon didn’t understand. they were just talking normally, but jihyo making her realize that she’s finally getting married in six months, made it all feel so real.

“oh unnie,” jihyo gasped as her own tears slipped from her eyes, “thank you for keeping your promise.”

“no jihyo,” nayeon gasped out through her tears, “how could you say that when I broke all the promises I made?”

“that’s not true unnie, we were both young and so idealistic, but I was never mad at you.” jihyo explained as she clutched nayeon tighter in her arms and nayeon embraced jihyo as tight as she could as well.

“you should be jihyo,” nayeon sobbed, “I left you. I let my dreams get in between of us. I promised you that we’ll reach our dreams together but I forgot about you and I left you.”

“that happens sometimes unnie, but I never blamed you,” jihyo explained, “you were slowly becoming one of the best rookie designers, you needed more time for your career and I understood that.”

“I left you, hyo.” nayeon blamed herself.

but jihyo also reminded her, “I also chose to let go, unnie.”

“But I promised you,” nayeon said, “I promised you that someday, I’m going to marry you.”

“hey now unnie,” jihyo attempted to calm nayeon down, “it’s okay, trust me it’s okay. it’s time for us to let go of the promises we both couldn’t keep.”

“you should hate me.” nayeon’s voice was shaking.

“if I hated you, nayeon unnie, would I come here today asking you to design my dream gown for the most important day of my life?” jihyo replied calmly.

at that, nayeon was left speechless.

again and again, jihyo has proven how selfless she could be. how easy she forgives, and how quick she forgets. nayeon has been unforgiving of herself for the past seven years, and yet here jihyo was, still holding her when she needed her the most.

“I’m so sorry jihyo.” nayeon said endlessly. “I’m sorry for leaving you behind.”

“It’s okay unnie, there will always come a time in a person’s life where we’ll need to put our careers first, and that’s why I was never mad at you.” jihyo told her honestly. “I loved you enough to let you go and let you fly high. and seeing you here today unnie, I think, thank goodness, I think I made the right choice.”

“you were always the more selfless one between the two of us, jihyo.” nayeon tried normalising her breathing.

“that’s not true, unnie. you were as good to me as I was to you, if not more.” jihyo ran her fingers through nayeon’s hair.

oh how nayeon wished that was true.

there came a time when nayeon was stuck in between designs and making gowns for fashion show after fashion show. her name was starting to finally get a buzz. her designs were one of a kind, and slowly but surely, she was making her way to the top.

but on her way there, she lost the woman she had promised her forever.

too many date nights missed, too many phone calls unanswered, too many nights sleeping alone, too many weeks passed without even a single text, and jihyo finally realised that she was alone in a relationship.

but not once did she hate nayeon for that. she knew that the young designer needed time for herself and build her name, something jihyo cannot stand by if she had her own career to take care of.

“you were good to me, unnie” jihyo whispered, “I wouldn’t love you that much if you weren’t good to me.”

and nayeon just remained silent, processing jihyo’s words.

she knew what she had done, but there was no taking it back. she was too late now.

it wasn’t until someone knocked on nayeon’s door did they realize that it was getting late.

“ms. nayeon,” chaeyoung apologetically smiled, “will you be for long?”

“oh my god!” nayeon glanced at her look seeing that it almost six and chaeyoung was supposed to be out by 5. “I didn’t realize the time. go chaeyoung, I’ll close the store. go and don’t worry I’ll be paying you for the overtime.”

chaeyoung smiled gratefully, “thanks ms. nayeon, I’ll be seeing you tomorrow morning.”

and with that the young apprentice left and both nayeon and jihyo finally stood up.

“I didn’t realize how late it was. I’m sorry for keeping you unnie.” jihyo said as she held nayeon’s hand in one of her own.

“hey, it’s not a big deal. I had fun catching up and I missed hanging out with you, you know.” nayeon squeezed their hands, as she sniffed slightly.

jihyo smiled softly, tear tracks still evident on her face, “so I’ll have to come back in three months right? for my first fitting?”

“yes,” nayeon smiled. jihyo can come back anytime she wanted in all honesty, “but I was hoping that we could meet up sooner. I want to meet daniel, and maybe you can meet jeongyeon.”

“that’s a great idea!” jihyo exclaimed, her eyes lighting up, “let’s do it next week.”

“let’s do it then.” nayeon as she grabbed her phone and exchanged numbers with jihyo.

“nayeon unnie, can I ask you something?” jihyo’s timid smile was back.

“anything hyo.” nayeon said meaningfully.

“can you come to my wedding? you can even bring jeongyeon if you want.” jihyo asked with nervousness in her eyes.

nayeon expected to hear her heart breaking. she expected to feel the scorching pain of knowing that her first love wants her to see her get married to someone else.

instead, nayeon felt a quiet burn.

sure it ached a little. but more than that, she was honored. she was glad that the woman she once loved still cared enough about her to invite her to her most special day. she felt a quiet joy knowing that person she once loved, is finally happy even if it wasn’t in her arms.

she was honored to know a woman like park jihyo, to be able to love her, once upon a time, and it was nayeon’s greatest pleasure to love and to be loved by jihyo.

“absolutely jihyo,” nayeon cupped jihyo’s puffy cheeks in her palms, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

and with that jihyo smiled and grabbed her bag and headed to the door.

“jihyo,” nayeon called out before she left, “thank you for coming back.”

“you have broken a lot of promises to me Im Nayeon,” jihyo smiled teasingly, “but I couldn’t let you break the biggest promise you made for me.”

“still,” nayeon insisted, “thank you for giving me the closure I needed for more than seven years now.”

“we both deserve to be happy, unnie, whether with our without each other” jihyo smiled knowingly, “besides, broken promises brought us apart, but I figured that also a promise could bring us back together, right?”

“you were always the brighter and the more selfless one between the two of us.”

“no unnie, I’m not.” jihyo said as she held nayeon’s hand once more, “I just know that I wouldn’t have any other person in this world design my dream gown, if it wasn’t you.”

“don’t worry, princess, nayeon unnie got this for you.”

“I know you do,” jihyo smiled, “you’re going to make it out of every thread and fibre of your love, remember?”

“I’m gonna make you a dress the way you love jihyo,” nayeon promised, “beautiful and pure, blinding yet simple. only for you.”

“then that’s all I could ever ask for, thank you.” jihyo breathed out before looking back one last time, “oh and by the way, happy valentine’s day, nayeon unnie.”

“it’s an honor to have you design my gown.”

“happy valentine’s day too, my baby hyo. it’s also my greatest honor to design the world’s most beautiful princess her dream gown.”

and with that jihyo finally left, leaving nayeon standing there with tears in her eyes and a stupid smile on her face.

nayeon did not expect her last appointment to go that way. she never expected to end her day meeting the girl she once promised forever with.

did it hurt that she was designing a promised gown for a broken promise they once both made? maybe. but one thing was clear. nayeon was happy because jihyo came back to her life again, but most importantly, because jihyo was /finally/ happy again.

daniel was surely one very, very lucky guy.

to have someone like jihyo love him and care for him the good old park jihyo way.

the most beautiful and selfless kind of love in the world.

which nayeon has proven once again when jihyo came knocking to her door a few hours ago.

a sudden ping broke nayeon out of her thoughts. glancing at her desk, she noticed that she received a text.

‘hey baby it’s getting late, you’re probably stuck sketching again, my love. i cooked pasta for us tonight, text me when you’re about to get home. happy valentine’s day, i love you.’

and nayeon always smiled at how jeongyeon referred to their place as ‘home’.

nayeon texted a quick reply,

‘hey babe i’m sorry about that. i’m just gonna close the store and i’ll be on my way. the craziest thing happened today, and i’ll tell you all about it when i get home. see you in a bit, jeongyeonie, i love you too and happy valentine’s day.’

nayeon may have begun dreaming with another woman, but right here this valentine’s day, all she knew is that she wanted to reach all her dreams holding only jeongyeon’s hand.

and it’s okay, nayeon was happy.

jihyo said she deserves to be happy too, so she deserved jeongyeon.

and with that nayeon locked her phone, closed the store, and went home to her valentine that was her only present, and hopefully, her only future and perhaps, her forever.

end.

**Author's Note:**

> come make friends with me at twitter. I'm @minimonijihyo (also in cc) so please feel free to leave messages or criticisms. I also posted this there as a threadfic. thank you so much for reading this, it means a lot to me. and this is a friendly reminder that sometimes we might not end up with the person we once promised forever with, but that's okay, fate will always lead us to our 'the one'. i love you all, and happy valentine's day!


End file.
